CELTIC COULD SEAL SURPRISE SIGNING OF DEFENDER
THE HOOPS HAVE BEEN LINKED WITH PLENTY OF POTENTIAL NEW SIGNINGS OF LATE, BUT ONE SURPRISE TARGET HAS EMERGED IN ALBIREX NIIGATA DEFENDER HAYATO INAMURA.
THE 23-YEAR-OLD IS A LEFT-SIDED CENTRE-BACK WHO COULD ADD BALANCE AND DEPTH TO BRENDAN RODGERS’ SQUAD, ADDING TO THE LIST OF JAPANESE SIGNINGS THAT CELTIC HAVE MADE IN RECENT YEARS. INAMURA IS FAR FROM THE ONLY POSSIBLE FRESH FACE ARRIVING AT PARKHEAD IN THE SUMMER TRANSFER WINDOW, HOWEVER, WITH ROYAL ANTWERP STAR MICHEL-ANGE BALIKWISHA ALSO MENTIONED AS A TARGET.
THE 24-YEAR-OLD HAS 29 GOALS AND 17 ASSISTS FOR HIS CURRENT CLUB, AS WELL AS BEING CAPPED FOR BELGIUM IN FIVE DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS, AND HE COULD ADD REAL QUALITY TO CELTIC’S ATTACK. NOW, A SHOCK MOVE REGARDING THE HOOPS HAS BEEN MOOTED.
JOURNALIST MAKES CLAIM ON KYOGO SEALING CELTIC RETURN
SPEAKING TO FOOTBALL INSIDER, O’ROURKE TALKED UP THE IDEA OF CELTIC RE-SIGNING KYOGO FURUHASHI THIS SUMMER, EVEN THOUGH THE JAPANESE STRIKER ONLY DEPARTED FOR RENNES BACK IN JANUARY, SAYING IT WOULD BE A “POPULAR SIGNING AMONGST THE CLUB’S FANS”.
“IT WOULD DEFINITELY BE A POPULAR SIGNING AMONGST THE CLUB’S FANS. IT HASN’T REALLY WORKED OUT FOR HIM, THAT MOVE TO RENNES. HE WAS BROUGHT IN BY JORGE SAMPAOLI AND HE THEN LEFT THE CLUB AND KYOGO FOUND HIMSELF CUT OUT. THAT’S FUELLED SPECULATION THAT HE COULD BE MOVING ON. CELTIC NEVER REALLY REPLACED KYOGO WHEN THEY LET HIM GO IN JANUARY, THEY DECIDED NOT TO BRING IN ANOTHER STRIKER.
“SO WHAT BETTER MAN TO REPLACE KYOGO THAN KYOGO HIMSELF IN THAT RESPECT? IT’LL DEPEND ON WHAT THE PLAYER WANTS TO DO, IF HE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN A MOVE BACK TO CELTIC THEN POTENTIALLY SOMETHING COULD HAPPEN. I DON’T THINK CELTIC WILL BE WILLING TO PAY ANYWHERE NEAR THE £10MILLION THEY RECEIVED FROM RENNES TO SELL KYOGO IN JANUARY, IT WILL HAVE TO BE ON MUCH REDUCED TERMS. IF THERE’S A WILLINGNESS FROM RENNES TO SELL HIM AND THE PLAYER TO RETURN, A MOVE COULD HAPPEN. CELTIC HAVE A LONG LIST OF TARGETS THEY’VE LOOKED AT AS REPLACEMENTS FOR KYOGO. SO LET’S WAIT AND SEE.”
WHILE CELTIC FANS WERE CLEARLY DISAPPOINTED IN KYOGO THAT HE WANTED TO LEAVE THE CLUB, MANY WOULD STILL LOVE THE IDEA OF SEEING HIM BACK AT PARKHEAD.
THE 30-YEAR-OLD PRODUCED SO MUCH QUALITY IN THE FINAL THIRD DURING HIS FOUR-YEAR STINT AT THE SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP GIANTS, SCORING 85 GOALS IN JUST 185 APPEARANCES, AS WELL AS RECEIVING PLENTY OF ADORATION FROM RODGERS.
“HIS FINISH WAS SUBLIME. HE IS CLEVER, HE’S VERY CUTE IN THE GAME. HE’S AN ELITE PLAYER IN TERMS OF HIS MOVEMENT AND HIS RUNS. AND HE PLAYED THE OFFSIDE REALLY WELL.”
KYOGO MANAGED ONLY ONE START FOR RENNES IN LIGUE 1 LAST SEASON, IN WHAT HAS BEEN A FRUSTRATING PERIOD FOR HIM, SO A RETURN TO CELTIC COULD BE PERFECT FOR ALL PARTIES.
